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This is not meant to turn into a nationalistic topic to debate. So please don't go there.

My question stems from some great advancements in road cycling that have come out of Germany. SRM power meter. Lightweight wheels. Just two companies that come to the top of my mind in terms of completely leading and changing the industry. Not to mention other industry leaders like ax-lightness and others. I can only think of a high quality German engineering producing a road group set. Maybe one day?

Probably it cant be manufactured at a cost that could be competitive to the existing brands. Dont think "Design in Germany, Made in China" would sell. All of German offerings have always been a premium product at a premium price.

True. But this is a sport and hobby where some people spend $3-6k on a set of wheels or $500 on a saddle. I think there would be riders willing to pay for a Germany made group set. I don't have any data to back that up, but plenty of people already do that with other components (paying a higher premium over other brands). Just an interesting thought that I had. I don't expect anything in the near future, but hopefully one day.

It's just a very difficult market to break into - more than anything else in cycling it's dominated by OE sales and Shimano and SRAM have got that tied up (and without so much history on their side I think even Camagnolo would be struggling as a company) - and SRAM only got their start through suing Shimano and receiving a sizeable investment and guarantee of a chunk of the OE market.

I think Sram, Shimano, and Campagnolo probably has their stuff patented. As a result, coming up with a new road group set, you have to design something different to avoid infringing on those patents, causing more R&D.

ichobi wrote:Watch out for Rotor Hydro group coming this Eurobike. Lighter than Red 22.

I am also curious on how Rotor can stand up to the big brands. Tiso had 12 speed electronic wireless but could not release it due to patents (my guess Sram is holding this).Sad since the prototype was ready 2012.